The El Paso area was bombarded with strong rain for the second day in a row on Thursday with the Lower Valley taking the brunt of the storm, which caused arroyos to overflow their banks, sending thousands of gallons of dirty water into neighborhoods.

REPORTER

Aaron Bracamontes

As the storm continued through the area, Central El Paso was drenched in a downpour and Interstate 10 was flooded again when the storm water system failed to keep up with the rain. In Downtown El Paso, a building was evacuated after an electrical fire believed caused by the rain, and motorists were challenged by flooded streets, closures and a steady rain that lasted hours at a time.

No serious injuries were reported, and officials expect more rain today.

Socorro

Workers from the Texas Department of Transportation and the city of Socorro had to repair arroyo banks after the rain caused some to break on Thursday.

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Horizon Boulevard, south of I-10, began to flood and side streets became engulfed in water.

Perla Gonzalez was unable to get to her house on Patti Jo Drive and had to watch her neighborhood fill with water from a shopping center.

"My husband called me and told me not to drive in," Gonzalez said. "He said the whole house was flooded and it was coming in from the roof, too."

Gonzalez's husband told her the water in the house was so deep that some of the furniture was starting to float.

"I can't believe what I am seeing," Gonzalez said as her neighbors walked in knee-deep water. "I'm hoping the insurance will cover this. We get wind storms and dust storms, but not a lot of flooding."

Gabriel Gutierrez said that he was waiting for officials from the city of Socorro or El Paso County to go to his neighborhood as the water began to approach his home on Arlene Circle,

"This whole mess is going on and we haven't heard from the authorities at all," Gutierrez said. "When I got home, you could see that rock wall (at the front of the house), and now it's all gone."

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Joe Flores and his wife also live on Arlene Circle. They were using mops and brooms to keep the water from entering their home.

"During the 2006 storms there was a lot of water, but we didn't have it to this extent," Flores said. "This is just ridiculous. It's just bad."

Flores said that when he was driving home, he saw that nearby cotton fields were overflowing with water.

"It was creeping up a little bit at a time," Flores said. "The water goes to the cotton fields, and once it fills up, it comes through here."

San Elizario

The historical Old County Jail in San Elizario was affected by heavy rains on Thursday.

Part of the recently renovated stucco exterior crumbled. In June, the county held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the restored jail. The county spent $215,000 from hotel-occupancy tax funds and Texas Historical Commission grant money to fix the building.

The Los Portales Museum, which is operated by the San Elizario Genealogy and Historical Society, was flooded.

Inside the building, the water reached about five inches above the floor.

Al Borrego, president of the society, said the damage was undetermined.

"I don't know. We will see what's damaged. The longer it stays in the water, the more it gets damaged," he said while trying to pump the water out of the building.

Computers, books, frames, furniture and even a camera system were soaked in water.

Ramon Gutierrez, a county worker, said five "huge" water trucks and three motors with six-inch pipe hoses were being used to pump the water out of the streets in the area of San Elizario.

Among the affected streets were Socorro Road, Main Street, San Elizario Road and Alarcon Road.

The El Paso County Sheriff's Office opened a Command Center at the San Elizario Independent School District administration building to help residents with information on evacuation and safety tips, said Deputy Angie Becerra, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office.

Becerra said no major incidents were reported and that no families had been evacuated.

The San Elizario High School gymnasium and the Clint Fire Department station were open to the public as shelters in case families had to be evacuated.

El Paso

Once the storm passed through the Lower Valley, it hit Central El Paso again, flooding I-10 and detouring traffic.

I-10 West at Cotton was closed for about two hours as El Paso Water Utilities crews tried to pump out the water.

Christina Montoya, spokeswoman for El Paso Water Utilities, said the flooding was a result of more rain than the stormwater system can handle. Montoya said the system has improved since 2006, when rain caused about $200 million in damages, but it still was not ready for this week's storms.

The temporary barrier near a vacant lot that is being prepared by El Paso Water to be a water retention pond at Altura Avenue and Lackland Street gave way once again on Thursday after continuing heavy rain.

The El Paso Department of Transportation cleaned up the area of debris and rubble Thursday afternoon to allow vehicles to pass, but transportation manager Martin Jacquez said that because the barrier had been breached, the embankment would be left alone and water would be allowed to run through the streets should showers continue.

"The water is going to flow to the street. We won't replace it anymore. It's a hazard and a danger if we put it back up," Jacquez said. "Whatever broke from the berm, we cleared."

In Downtown El Paso, the rains caused an electrical explosion in the basement of the Chase Building on Stanton Street. Employees were evacuated as black smoke was seen coming out of the bottom of the building.

Several Sun Metro bus routes were detoured throughout the day Thursday trying to avoid flooded streets.

Civilian workers were allowed to leave work early on Thursday as the floods hit Fort Bliss.

A news release from Fort Bliss said Hann Road was flooded from Jeb Stuart Road to Carrington Road. Barricades were placed at Hann and Jeb Stuart.

The Pershing drainage pond was also flooded on Thursday, the news release said.

In other developments:

•Montoya said that residents are encouraged to pick up sandbags from the Stormwater Operations Station, 4801 Fred Wilson, where they are being filled.

The other sandbag locations are adjacent at 120 Kappa Road, 913 S. Boone Street, and at Wedgewood Drive and Lockerbie Avenue.

•Southern Doña Ana County and Juárez also had some flooding.

•Four new West Nile cases were reported by health officials. The city of El Paso Department of Public Health reported that a 62-year-old woman in the 79932 ZIP code was confirmed with the disease. Two other cases were confirmed in women, ages 63 and 48, in the 79924 ZIP code, and a 70-year-old woman in the 79922 ZIP code also had the disease, which is spread by mosquito bites. The recent rains, officials have said, may cause more mosquitoes.